Today, I was lucky to experience first-hand the project of Gawad Kalinga Sunshineville, Bayong ng Kabuhayan.
Bayong ng Kabuhayan is a livelihood program where community members create eco-trendy & stylish products such as bags & home/office accessories from doypack materials. The project provides opportunities for its residents and has potential to grow into a permanent & profitable business.
I was able to meet to meet the people behind the project and ofcourse, the community members who are part of the program. I was also able to see how the bags were made.
Here are the instructions they showed us on how to prepare the bag:
- Cut doypack sheets into strips.
Doypack is the packaging that ready to drink beverages use. The ones that Zest-O sent to GK Sunshineville are their overruns or rejects. Rejects include ones that were printed wrongly or the packaging isn’t acceptable for commercial use. Just to clarify, the ones Zest-O sent are new and have not been used.
- Fold doypack strips one by one.
Milagros showed us how to fold strips. It isn’t an easy task to do! They are paid 25 centavos per doypack strip folded.
- Weave the folded doypack strips.
This is the most tedious task of them all. I was able to try it out. It was fun, but I bet if you do this everyday, it won’t feel like fun anymore! hehehe! I really appreciate their materials because they are done with care and with personal touch. In a day, the manangs can make approximately 3-4 bags.
- Attach Handle to handweaven bags.
In this video, they showed us how they attached the handle to the bag. We were shown 2 types of handles, first the wooden one and an abaca one. The handle is attached by sewing. I bet doing this the whole will really make your fingers tired especially holding that long needle and sewing it to a hard material.
Finished bags look like these:
The bags are beautiful & affordable, promise! They sell between Php 395 to Php 450.
They also have other products like the ones below:
In their beautiful product brochure, you’d be able to see the products on sale.
They are divided into 2 sections namely:
- Bags – Silver Bags, Colored Bags
- Home – Serving Trays, Placemats, Envelope cases, File Holders, Utility Boxes
I hope you do support this cause and buy the products. By purchasing, you will not only help them by sustaining the business, you will also get good quality products.
If you have any questions about the products or would like to order, you can contact:
Thess Barameda of GKonomics
Tel: (02) 718-1738
E-Mail Address: gkoncepts.info@gmail.com
Address: 4/F Pro-Friends Building, 55 Tinio Street, Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
